Puerto Obaldia - General Info
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This is a convenient port of entry for Panama if coming from Colombia, however, there is no Autoridad Marítima Marina Mercante in Puerto Obaldia to obtain an official cruising permit. See Clearance below for details.
The anchorage here, however, is often untenable and should not be relied upon. During peak Tradewind season (Jan-March) a large swell comes in here. More sheltered anchorages can be found nearby.
Puerto Obaldia has a large military/police presence because inland, the Darien border between Colombia and Panama is a major drug smuggling highway.
A convenient place from which to visit the memorable town of Sapzurro Colombia and the southern, very unspoiled portion of Guna Yala.
Position:
08°39.84’N, 77°25.33’W (anchorage)
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Related to following destinations: Caribbean, Panama, Puerto Obaldia
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Checked in Obaldia on April 2018 and the entry fee of $105 for entry visa was removed. Several copies of passports and boat documents are required but shop able to make copies are available next to the immigration office. Cruising permit requires “few” stamps to be applied to document: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkCzD563lXg&t=37s
Reported by SV Totem:
We arrived in Panama recently and cleared into Panama’s eastern Caribbean corner at Puerto Obaldia on January 27, 2018, after hearing positive reports on the ability to check into this relatively frontier post from other boats.
Clearance was a three-step process:
Police checkpoint (no document given, no fee) at the head of the dock; officer wrote down details from each crew members’ passport.
Immigration (visas for the crew, $105 per person for US citizens): office in town, the basic direction from a police checkpoint. Passport.
Port Captain (clearance provided, total cost $197: the cruising permit is $185, a few other nominal fees are noted on the receipt): around the corner from Migracion, blue/white building is also visible from Anchorage.
The crew should all go ashore. We were able to avoid doing this because conditions in the bay were unsafe for leaving the boat unattended – officials relented in our case, but we know they’ve required all crew to disembark in other clearances this season.
During peak trades, Jan-March, swell rolls in and this anchorage are barely tenable. We found good holding, but given the pitching of the boat in swells, did not want to linger.
Puerto Perme, approx. 10 km east from Puerto Obaldia, is a very well protected bay and the perfect place to move once formalities are completed.
Behan & the Totem crew